T.O.W–Week 13
Wednesday, Apr 14 2010

This week we’ve been given the assignment of creating a list of 10 ways PR people can drive journalists crazy so here’s my list of what PR people should/could do instead of making journalists mad…

#1. Actually take in what is being said around you. By simply listening you might hear someone talk about a company that needs help communicating with their community, etc.

#2. Don’t try to do everything yourself. Yes, we’ve gone to school for PR and learned to do some cool stuff on computers, but try delegating that type of work to someone who’s in the IT department that probably enjoys that type of work way too much.

#3. Don’t bother them so much with emails. If a journalist covering your story, event, premiere, etc. has an issue or a question they’ll contact you.

#4. Study research and tips from other PR and marketing professionals. They might have insight into something that will work for you!

#5. You don’t HAVE to have a blog. Thanks to search engines like Google you can look up information about almost anyone and anything so blogging isn’t exactly imperative.

#6. Keep focused on what YOUR job is. Remember that you’re not a journalist so don’t try to write the article for them.

#7. Actually connect with the journalist. By doing this you and the journalist will both have a better understand of what the other wants for, during, and after the project. Having a connection with a journalist might also come in handy in future projects for you.

#8. Reverse your thinking on how to get your clients name and message out there. Yes, you want your clients name to be known, but you want people to remember it. Having an article written about the client and what they’re doing is great, but you need a way to make people identify a particle thing with your client. Think of ways that your campaign can be used for years to come.

#9. Don’t give a journalist lots of data and numbers on your client or product. OK, obviously they need to know some statistics about the client, but not every single detail. Just pick out the best and simple ones for them to use.

#10. Try not to sound like you’re selling your client. Of course you want to promote them, but you’re not making a commercial with the journalists so just give them the facts and some background on the client, product, etc.

So there it is. My list of 10 ways to not drive a journalist crazy. I hope they’re helpful! Do you have any tips on this topic? Let me know! 🙂